He didn’t say it like that, but during last night’s Republican primary debate, Rick Perry seemed to promise to start / restart more wars. He wants to put the troops back in Iraq, just days after the war ended.
We all know that long wars generate jobs for Americans… or not, I guess. Well at least those lazy bums in the US Military (who, me?) would finally get back to work.
“I would send troops back into Iraq”
He went on to clarify, but I think he had already lost most Americans.
“I think the idea that we allow the Iranians to come back into Iraq and take over that country, with all of the treasure, both in blood and money, that we have spent in Iraq because this president wants to kowtow to his liberal, leftist base and move out those men and women – he could have renegotiated that timeline. I think it is a huge mistake.”
He will literally start world war three:
“We’re going to see Iran, in my opinion, move back in at literally the speed of light.”
The L.A. Times has some relevant statistics:
An ORC/CNN poll from December, when U.S. troops left Iraq, found that Americans overwhelmingly support the withdrawal, 78% to 21%. Sixty percent of Republicans and 78% of independents approved of the decision.
A majority of all respondents, 51%, said the decision to send troops into Iraq was “dumb,” and 57% said they believed the Bush administration had deliberately misled the American people about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
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sailor1031
January 8, 2012 at 7:37 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s not a good sign when a candidate for POTUS demonstrates so clearly that he has NO idea what a Treaty is.
StevoR
January 8, 2012 at 8:40 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Or how fast the speed of light is versus even the fastest human made object!
Steve
January 8, 2012 at 8:59 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The Iranians are perfectly happy to engage in proxy wars by supporting insurgents. An outright invasion really isn’t in their best interest. They’d be even less welcome in Iraq than the US
'Tis Himself, OM.
January 8, 2012 at 9:12 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I haven’t looked at Perry’s biography but I’d be willing to bet large amounts of money that he never served a day in the military. Just another chairborne warrior, pushing to put other peoples’ lives on the line so he can feel good.
'Tis Himself, OM.
January 8, 2012 at 9:19 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I see I would have lost my bet. The pfftt! of all knowledge says:
Nothing against the men and women in the Air Force, but most of them don’t have boots on the ground. There’s a definite difference between driving C-130s and being a grunt.
Incidentally, I was a nuclear mechanic in a submarine in the late 1960s to early 1970s. I went into the Navy specifically to avoid service in Vietnam.
Enkidu
January 8, 2012 at 5:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ha ha. If the Iranians can move, literally, at the speed of light, you may as well surrender right away.
Sweendoggedly
January 8, 2012 at 5:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I just want in on the Iranian governments secret move-at-light-speed transport device! Can I get in on the ground floor of this thing or what?
ImaginesABeach
January 8, 2012 at 10:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Given the fact that the government of Iraq recently told us to leave, wouldn’t returning troops to Iraq be an invasion of a sovereign nation? An act of war, which the United Nations would need to oppose?
mommiest
January 9, 2012 at 12:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
He doesn’t mean literally literally, he means figuratively literally.
qwerty
January 10, 2012 at 12:53 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“I went into the Navy specifically to avoid service in Vietnam.”
Hey, I did the same thing, but they made me a cook and sent me to DaNang, Vietnam where I served at a Naval Hospital for a year.
Yes, Perry is an idiot if he thinks supporting a restart of the Iraq war will get him the nomination. (Well, in general, he is an idiot.)